


Flirt

by Salmon_I



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alcohol, Alien Culture, Flirting, Gen, Polyamory, Recreational Drug Use, mostly canon-compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:54:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26710999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salmon_I/pseuds/Salmon_I
Summary: Shiro gave strict orders for nobody to touch either, and called him out specifically on it, earning him teasing from his teammates which felt less good natured to him than it seemed to be to them, but he smiled through the call anyway.  He was still alone with the Resistance group, though, so when one offered him a drink he decided what Shiro didn't know wouldn't hurt him.The drink was sweet but with a bitter aftertaste that wasn't bad at all. Certainly better than Nunvil. It definitely felt like alcohol.  Loosening his limbs, and perhaps his mouth a bit, so he was thinking of cutting himself off when the second in command pushed another cup into his hand.“I'm glad you're partaking, Paladin Lance.  No offense, but your leader seems to have a support beam up his anal cavity.” She commented.Lance choked on the drink, as he couldn't hold back a laugh at the unexpected comment.  “Yah, Shiro can be like that.  He used to be a bit chiller but, y'know, I guess the war is changing all of us.”
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	Flirt

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I realized belatedly I skewed the timeline. Oh well.

The Duajins from Duaj IV, Lance decided on the third day of keeping company with their local resistance, were the biggest flirts in the Galaxy. And that was coming from the self proclaimed Loverboy Lance. It wasn't in an overly sexual or creepy way, either, they were just more than happy to flirt if flirted with, and that included with each other or with him since he'd dropped a line or two during his first day in their company.

PDA were not shied away from. The Duajins held hands, leaned on each other's shoulders, and even sat in each other's laps. Quick kisses before assignments did not go unseen either.

Lance almost wanted to call them Space Hippies, except their motto was “Make Love _and_ War” which didn't fully fit. If Zarkon hadn't been a prick and trying to take over the known universe and occupied Duaj IV for 5000 years Lance had a feeling they would be preaching “Make Love Not War” but that was hard to stick to when being suppressed by a dictatorship.

They had four arms, opposable thumbs on their feet, and their skintones ranged reds to pinks to oranges. Their hair was naturally white, grey, or silver - except that they dyed it in all and multiple shades, including their eyebrows. As fashion was hard to keep while having resources drained by an occupying government, the Duajins had focused on dying their hair as a form of self expression.

Their stay on Duaj IV hadn't been meant to be a long one, but they'd experienced some troubles during the original battle, and had been forced to hide in separate Duajin resistance bases to plan a better form of attack. Shiro, Allura, and Pidge - along with Matt and some of the regular Rebellion members - were in one base. Hunk had ended up with Keith and some of the Blade of Mamora at another. While Lance had, somehow, ended up alone. They had communications, so the team wasn't cut off from each other, but he felt like he was being cut out of the decision making which irritated like an itch under his skin and sat heavy like a stone in his stomach. He wondered if Lotor and Coran were being consulted about their strategy more than he was, but shied away from dwelling on it. The flirting actually helped, as it kept him occupied instead of thinking.

When one of the Duajins had flirted with him right after he swore he saw her kiss another Duajin he decided to make sure he wasn't being caught up in relationship drama. But he quickly learned something different entirely.

“Oh! Are humans a monogamous species?” The Resistance member asked. “I wasn't sure as you seem okay with flirting.”

“Er, well, mostly?” Lance had been surprised by the question. “That kinda depends on the person?”

“Most unions on Duaj IV involve between 3-5 people. But higher numbers aren't uncommon and in modern times nobody frowns on pairs like they once did.”

Lance really wished someone on his team found personal relationships more fascinating than technology or fighting, because a species where monogamy was the oddity must have a fascinating history behind it and he really wished someone would want to chat about it. Pidge would roll her eyes, and Allura probably would too, Hunk would humor him with a whole set of Uh-huhs, and Keith would probably look at him in disgust. Shiro… at one time he would have said Shiro would groan or roll his eyes but lately he had a feeling his reply would be far, far harsher. For kicks he tried to imagine holding the discussion with Kolivan.

“I kinda thought Voltron might be a Union?” The Resistance member continued, undeterred by his pause.

“Wait, you thought we were all space married?” Oh, man, he had to tell that one to Hunk, at least. He'd probably almost find it funny. Though he bet they'd all slay it in Paladin color coordinated wedding outfits. Which meant he was picturing it, and heck, no. That would probably be a disaster. “No, the paladin bond is more… um… metaphysical?”

“Yes, from what I've heard most of your team is not fond of flirting or seeking accord.”

Seeking accord seemed to be the Duajin version of dating, though with a more obvious sexual implication. If you were flirting you might be interested in a relationship, if you were seeking accord, you were in a sexual relationship with the possibility of more, and a Union was a version of marriage.

“Isn't that messy when people are mad at each other? Who decides who sleeps on the couch?”

“Well Rilla always sends both her mates to the bunkers if one upsets her.”

“Yikes, that sounds bad.”

“The bunkers have no privacy, and everyone ribs them but they always make up. In war, there isn't a lot of time for staying mad at each other.”

Lance was pretty sure it had less to do with the war and more to do with the Duajins just seeming to be chill by nature.

* * *

After a set of hit and run tactics to distract the local Galra while Pidge snuck in to gather details they needed for the big final battle to free Duaj V, they lost a few people and the Duajins of his resistance cell spent a night grieving, which also involved some sort of alcohol and recreational drugs. Yep, definitely Space Hippies, Lance decided.

Shiro gave strict orders for nobody to touch either, and called him out specifically on it, earning him teasing from his teammates which felt less good natured to him than it seemed to be to them, but he smiled through the call anyway. He was still alone with the Resistance group, though, so when one offered him a drink he decided what Shiro didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

The drink was sweet but with a bitter aftertaste that wasn't bad at all. Certainly better than Nunvil. It definitely felt like alcohol. Loosening his limbs, and perhaps his mouth a bit, so he was thinking of cutting himself off when the second in command pushed another cup into his hand.

“I'm glad you're partaking, Paladin Lance. No offense, but your leader seems to have a support beam up his anal cavity.” She commented.

Lance choked on the drink, as he couldn't hold back a laugh at the unexpected comment. “Yah, Shiro can be like that. He used to be a bit chiller but, y'know, I guess the war is changing all of us.”

“Nella said Voltron wasn't a Union, which was most of our first thoughts, so is Shiro perhaps a parent of yours?”

Another laugh, yep definitely tipsy, and Lance shook his head. “No, not officially. I think he tries to fill that role for us all, though, since we're away from our own families. Pidge and Matt are the only ones actually related.”

“You mean they're siblings?” Another resistance member choked on their drink.

“Um… yah?”

“Oh, I'm so jealous of those at that base. I've never seen siblings.”

“I did once!” Another called out. “It was pretty amazing.”

Lance blinked blankly. “Are siblings rare here?”

“Children are rare.” The second in command sat beside him. “Half Siblings are almost unheard of and full blood Siblings miraculous.”

Lance frowned, perplexed. “I have five siblings.”

The Duajins gawked before one of the male ones gave a small cough. “Your species must be um… fertile.”

Lance sat up straighter, wondering if he had just made a social faux pas - Allura would kill him if he had and Shiro, oh boy, if he found out he wagged his tongue while drinking against orders? “Well, I mean, on Earth siblings are common and while five is less common, it's not considered a huge deal. I… I have pictures. Would you like to see?” He nabbed out his phone. 

The Duajins very much wanted to see and Lance found himself with a large group over his shoulder cooing over his younger siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews as he explained his large family. As he came to the end of a rant that probably took at least a varga, if not two, the group dwindled.

“Such fertility.” One of the Duajins sighed dreamily. “Paladin Lance if you ever wish to seek accord, I would be very… according.” She fluttered her eyelashes.

“Canna, that's the most typical line ever!” Another threw a berry at her.

Canna stuck her tongue out at her. “You're just jealous you didn't say it first!”

“What's with the, uh, fertility comments?” Lance asked the second in command.

The second in command grimaced, and refilled both their glasses. “Our people have low birth rates thanks to the Galra.”

“Wait, how did the Galra affect your birth rates?”

“Our fight with the Galra started approximately 7000 Deca-Phoebs ago. We kept them from gaining our planet for almost 2000 Deca-Phoebs, partly because our people then were very fertile. We also grow of age at a fast rate too, so it made fighting us harder. New soldiers came of age and were born each day. And when the war got intense those not quite fully of age started getting into the fight. It wasn't approved of, but if your home was under attack, what would you have done when younger?”

“Fight.” Lance admitted without hesitation.

“Precisely… but all that changed 5000 Dec-Phoebs ago. We don't know if it was some chemical or druid magic, but our birth rates dropped almost overnight. Even now some unions will spend their whole lives trying to have even one child together, and it won't happen. So fertility is… sought after.”

“Oh.” Lance blushed, understanding. “I'm a bit young to have a child.”

“I'm sure any Duajin wouldn't mind raising a child for you.” She assured him.

“No fair, Muuva, I offered first.” Canna huffed. The second in command laughed at the complaint.

“No, but I could never… I mean, momma didn't raise a boy who would run out on his own child. I'd want to be involved if I had one.” Lance tried to explain. He wondered if even his fellow paladins would understand. Shiro, Keith, Pidge, and Matt seemed all so… Garrison. Hunk probably would get it, but they'd never really talked about it. Kids and marriage prospects. They had still been trying to get dates while on Earth - marriage had been a future idea not needed to be considered yet. 

“A romantic.” One of the male Duajins grinned. “Now I can get behind that.”

The berry tossing one struck again, this time with multiple ammo. “Oh, please. What you want to get behind is him!”

“You're just too shy, Evvu.”

“You’re just a sex fiend, Corro!”

“Oh, Quiznak, will you two just seek accord already?” Canna broke in.

Muuva laughed at their antics. “You three should just seek accord already.”

Canna huffed. “Evvu would make me change the diapers if we were lucky enough to have a child.”

“You bet I would!”

“Canna has a thing for off worlders anyhow.” Corro grinned.

“Stop making me sound like a pervert!”

“Canna kinda is a pervert.” Muuva whispered to him.

“I know you're talking about me!”

Lance laughed, and let Muuva refill his drink without protest. And if Muuva and he got to know each other a bit better later on, his team didn't need to know that either.

* * *

If he thought the grieving party was something, the celebration when they beat the Galra and freed Duaj V was downright wild. Having not seen each other til then the group gathered to share experiences. Which was when Muuva appeared to offer him a drink.

“I wasn't sure I'd live to see the day Duaj V was free. Drink with me?” She was smiling brightly.

“No drinking.” Shiro cut in.

Muuva made a face at that. “The battle is over for the quintant. Why not just live in the tick?”

“Lance already specializes in living in the tick. He doesn't need alcohol.” Pidge put in.

Muuva rolled her eyes, and turned back to Lance. “You should swing by our campfire. Canna is trying to chat up one of those Blades.”

Kolivan's ear twitched, Lance noticed, but he said nothing. He couldn't help but grin at the situation. “Canna is going to add onto her reputation.”

“I wouldn't mind a reputation if it involved you.” Muuva winked.

“Aren't you already tired from running through my thoughts all day?” Lance threw in some fingerguns for good measure.

“Do I have to listen to this?” Pidge complained.

“Lance.” Shiro's tone was lecturing.

Before he could backpedal, Muuva turned a glare on the group he had only seen her wear in battle. “What is your problem?”

Pidge gaped. “Our problem?”

“Yes, your problem! Tell me are you Species-ist? Think Duajins shouldn't mingle with whatever you are?”

“Hey, that's not what I meant!” Pidge held up her hands in protest.

“Or perhaps you think I'm not worthy of seeking union with a Paladin?”

Allura was quickly on her feet, hoping to diffuse what seemed to be turning into a diplomatic incident. “Nobody intended to indicate such a thing.”

“Lance has a bit of a reputation.” Shiro broke in, tone not as forgiving.

“So does Canna.” Muuva told him. “Didn't you just hear me say she's trying to get it on with one of his?” She jerked her thumb at Kolivan. Lance noticed his ear twitched again, but his face remained stoic. “You see me getting up in her face about it? You see him going over there to shut it down? No. Cuz it's none of my business who Canna gets horizontal with. And it's none of your business who he does.”

Her thumb jerk was to Lance this time, and he kinda wished the floor would swallow him. While at the same time he felt pretty grateful to hear someone stick up for him. He didn't recall it ever happening among the team since… well, ever, actually.

Keith was scowling. “I guess some of us think the war is more important than getting horizontal.”

The look Muuva shot at him was unimpressed. “This war has been going on for ten thousand deco-phoebs. If species stopped mating, there would be no war because there would be no species. Seeking an intimate connection, even a brief one, is a universal failing. Someone obviously took time to pop you out of their womb.”

“Lance once had his lion stolen by a girl he flirted with who handcuffed him to a tree.” Keith felt the need to volunteer, obviously not pleased to be talked back to. Lance felt his ears burn, but Muuva wasn't as easily embarrassed.

“Corro once had his key card stolen by a fellow Duajin he spent the night with who turned out to be a traitor. When you trust, sometimes bad things happen. But if you don't trust then things like this don't happen.” She swung her finger to encompass the gathered group. “My world is free because we all dared to trust each other. Maybe you should trust in your own a bit more.”

“We trust Lance!” Hunk protested.

“Then you should trust him to take care of his personal affairs without your interference.” Muuva sniffed, and turned back to Lance. “How did you end up cuffed to a tree? There's room for horizontal maneuvers in your lions.”

Yep, the ground could swallow him any time. “Stars?” Lance pointed upwards. “Moonlit walk?”

“Wow, Corro was right - you are a romantic.” Muuva grinned. “Whoever you eventually seek union with is going to be lucky.” She leaned forward to kiss his cheek, before backing up. “Well, I'm going to go watch Canna work her magic. Wanna come, Sexy?”

Linking his arm through hers, Lance kept his gaze averted from his team. “Lead the way, Beautiful.”

There would no doubt be a fallout later for the whole affair, and he wasn't looking forward to it, but for now he was going to do exactly what Muuva suggested and live in the tick. And flirt. He was definitely going to do that.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m kind of annoyed by how the general reaction by his teammates to Lance’s flirting is so overly negative. First, a lot of his flirting - minus Allura - actually gathers positive responses. The mermaid resistance member was more than happy to give him the kiss he mentioned and the alien girls at the space mall were flirting back. So, as I had Muuva say - what business is it of his teammates who he flirts with? It’s actually extremely normal for someone both his age and his position - a soldier at war, hello? - to want to flirt or make a brief connection - even just physically - with another person. If the other paladins aren’t interested, that’s fine - but they really should back off of Lance’s choices.
> 
> And, while I touch upon it here, some of Lance's comments and flirtations are far more romantic than trampish. From his star struck expression first meeting Allura, to him taking Nyma on a walk through the forest. While the show walks a line on mature content hints, let's think about this. If he and Nyma were going to bang - there was plenty of room in the Blue Lion. Instead, Lance takes Nyma on a walk through the forest under the stars. That's hecka more like someone looking for a relationship than a leg over.
> 
> I wasn’t a huge fan of the group (or the show’s *cough*) treatment of Lance after Keith left for the Blades. He and Keith had run the team well together and he’d saved their asses plenty of times. But after Keith left, the others seemed to just forget about it and - despite his being second in command still - not listen to him at all. Basically I’m using the handy excuse that Kuron wasn’t Shiro, and that he was sabotaging the team by encouraging the others not to listen to Lance. Hence the conversation Lance and Muuva have about Shiro “changing.”


End file.
